Semi Trailer Rentals and the Convention Industry: Pulling for a Fast Recovery

It’s estimated that conventions contributed $101 billion to the U.S. economy in 2019. Convention attendees spend money on traveling to the event site, getting around town once they arrive, booking hotel rooms, dining out, enjoying entertainment and much more. In fact, even before they leave home there is money spent on everything from new clothes to business supplies for the event.

And for people who capitalize on the trip by taking some vacation time after the event, the spend is even higher. In other words, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the conventions industry for all the business it generates—business everyone benefits from in one way or another.

Unfortunately, while the list of business types affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is long and continues to grow, few sectors are facing the almost complete halt that the convention, trade show and conference industry is. Imagine having a full slate of events lined up for 2020 and 2021 (and sometimes beyond) and then finding out earlier this year that nearly all of them will have to be postponed or canceled. The financial toll this has taken on the many different types of service providers in this industry and their employees is staggering.

A Long-Time Partner to the Convention and Trade Show Industry

It’s said that the convention and tradeshow industry utilizes more than 10,000 rental trailers in the U.S. At Boxwheel, we’ve partnered with these companies for many years. We have strong relationships with and respect for the people in this industry, and not because of the business they bring to our company. They’re simply good, hard-working professionals who provide an important service and who—in our experience—have a “can do” attitude about any challenges they encounter.

A global pandemic, of course, is a level of challenge that few companies in business today have ever experienced. To enable people to lend a hand to the industry and everyone who relies on it for their livelihood, stakeholders have launched this website: golivetogether.com

It provides information on how you can donate or, just as importantly, advocate for this critical industry by contacting your legislators. We encourage you to check it out.

Industry Insights From Freeman

Freeman is a global leader in the marketing and managing of events. They offer turnkey event solutions for everyone from exhibitors to corporate event planners. In a video titled Event Horizon: Episode 9 — Updated Exhibitor Sentiments, the company provides details from a survey of exhibitors who were asked about their outlook for the industry.

As you can see in the graphs in a transcript from the video, there seems to be agreement that it will be many months before business even starts moving in the direction of “normal.” There is also growing realization that digital/online events, while they are necessary for the time being, are not as valuable as in-person events.

That point highlights the importance of finding a way to help convention, trade show and conference support suppliers survive until event volumes start to rebound. Businesses don’t want to be stuck with only virtual events after the pandemic is brought under control simply because the service providers they need to assist with their in-person gatherings have all closed their doors for good.

Here for the Resurgent Events Industry

We’re confident that when conditions allow it, the events industry will come back strong. And we’re here to help, with rental semi trailers for transportation and storage. To all our contacts in the industry: We wish you well and look forward to celebrating with you when your calendar is, once again, packed with in-person events at cities all around the U.S.